Chocolate and Ginger Pinwheel Biscuits

I can't believe this is my first post of 2015, and it's been over two months since my last recipe! I needed the break though - the run-up to Christmas, and the festive period itself, was hectic and finding time to keep this up to date would have been one commitment too many I think! I've still baked a lot - mostly as Christmas gifts and desserts for big family dinners - but was so preoccupied with other things that I forgot to take any photographs of a lot of it! Doh! These cookies though, are one of the few things that I do have a badly taken photo of, so I thought I'd start here. I made these for all our neighbours, and the lovely ladies that serve me in the bank when I go for work, as a little Christmas gift, they looked super cute in little cello-bags, decorated with ribbons and bells!

Chocolate Chip Ginger Cake

I made this cake for my Mum’s birthday earlier this week. It’s actually the first cake I’ve ever made in our new house, in the tiny crappy oven… My baking supplies are very limited at the moment, with things still in boxes here and there, but I managed to find out one cake pan and mixing bowl to be able to make this yummy chocolate chip ginger cake. It’s a simple, easy recipe, but tastes so good! Sorry about the photo too – I forgot to take one until we’d already cut it up and started eating it!

Spiced Blackberry Ripple Cupcakes

I'm back with my first bake in weeks, but I went back to my Mum's to use her oven... ha ha. Our house is still a little dusty from all the work we're doing so I thought it would be better to go back to where I knew it was clean! The blackberries used in this recipe were picked just around the corner from my house, and combined with the spices in the sponge, they make for a great transitional flavour combination as we head from summer to autumn.

Berry Streusel Bars

 

 My lovely sister and her boyfriend have finally got their first house up together, and were able to host their house warming party a couple of weekends ago. My contribution was a dessert buffet for their party, and this is the first of three recipes I'll be sharing from the buffet. As there were going to be a lot of people there, I opted for a couple of tray-bakes and some muffins, things that are easy to eat with your fingers whist standing around chatting. I first made these about 5 years ago, and they've been a firm favourite with my family ever since so I re-invented them slightly for the party.

Terry's Chocolate Orange and Ginger Flapjacks

 

I know that now Christmas is over, you're probably all sick of chocolate and sugary treats, but this is a good way to add a little something to any left over Christmas chocolate you have. Between us, James and I were given four Terry's Chocolate Oranges this Christmas, so I used half of one of those to make these moreish flapjacks.